levalley



2 Sheets-Shet 1.

C. W. LEVALLEY.

Harvester. No. 228,540. Patented June 8,1880. Tiff.

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N.PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFMgR, WSHXNGION, D. C.

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. W. LEVLLEY.

Harvester. No. 228,540. Patented June 8,1880.

NiTED STATES PATENT CHRISTOPHER W. LEVALLEY, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,540, dated June 8, 1880.

Application filed June 11, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER W. LE- VALLEY, ot' St. Paul, in the county ot' Ramsey and State ot' Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvesters; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specitication.

Figure l is a top-plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line os y of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an inside view ot' one part of one of the crank-shaft clutches or ratchets. Fig. f i is an inside view of the opposite part of said clutch or ratchet. Fig. 5 is a modification of Fig. 4. Fig. G is an enlarged view of a friction-brake detached. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the lever for throwing the cutting apparatus in and out of gear.

In the drawings, A A represent the main carrying and driving wheels. They are mounted loosely upon the axle A', and each is provided upon its inner face with a spur-wheel, c.

The parts A a of the carrying and driving wheels may be cast together in one piece, or they may be formed in separate pieces and afterward joined together.

The main frame, which carries the drivinggear, is rigidly mounted upon the axle A', and it is composed of the sills or side pieces, B B', and the girts or cross-pieces O C C2.

This machine is constructed to avoid the objections that are met with when the horses, are attached in front, and it is adapted to be thrust or propelled by horses attached behind the cutting apparatus, and thus obviate the difticulties of side draft and enable the use of a much longer sickle than can be employed with a side-draft machine.

The front end of the tongue D is attached to the axle A and is rigidly secured to the main frame.

D is an evener pivoted to the rear end of the tongue. To this evener the horses are hitched by means of the single-trees D,2 D2; or the propelling power may be applied by means of breast-yokes d d, carried by an evener, d', pivoted to the tongue in front of the horses 5 or, again, the horses may be so attached as to both pull and thrust the machine.

The operators seat D3 is placed upon the tongue at a point convenient for guiding the horses, and also convenient for manipulating the various parts ofthe mechanism to be hereinafter described.

b b are caster-wheels, upon which the rear part of the main frame is supported.

The cutter-frame is composed ot' the dividers or shoes E E', the cutter-bar c, secured to said shoes, and the supporting-arms E2 E3. This frame is pivoted to the shaft F, which is mounted in the standards f f f2, secured to the main frame.

f3 represents a crank attached to said shalt and revolving therewith, and having pivoted to it a pitman for reciprocating the cutters. Thus it will be seen that the cutter-frame is hinged to the main frame at two or morev points substantially equidistant from the finger-bar.

The arms E2 E3, which at their outer ends are rigidly attached to the shoes E E', are at their inner ends loosely mounted upon the crank-shaft F, so that the cutter-frame can be raised or lowered without altering the working relations of the crank-shaft and the sickle. The arms E2 E3 are curved outward, so as to supporta sickle long enough 'to cut a swath equal to the distance between the outer edges of the driving-wheels A A.

The cutter-bar is adjusted to different heights by means of a rock-shaft, G, which is mounted in brackets g g, secured to the main frame in front ofthe crank-shaft. This rock-shaft has forwardly-extending crank-a-rms G' G2, which are connected with the arms E2 E3 by means ot' pins, as shown at g', or by stirrups, as shown at g2. If they are connected by a pin or pivot, there should be an enlarged aperture or slot through the cutter-frame arm or the rockshaft arm to permitafreedom of play; but the stirrup g2 will readily allow such play.

By attaching the lifting or rocking mechanism to both ends of the cutter-frame, as described, the lifting of the frame for any purpose can be accomplished to greater advantage and with less straining or cramping of roo the various parts than if the rocking devices be attached to the cutter-frame at but one point only.

H is a tilting-lever secured to rock-shaft G,

whereby said shaft 'can be rocked, and through the arms G G2 be caused to elevate the cutterbar. The lever Il is provided with a pawl, 71 arranged to engage with the ratcheted standard t,'and to be operated by a link, h2, and bent lever h3. The lever II is shown in full and dottedlincs in Fig. 2, and the point of its attachment to the roek-shaft is shown in Fig. 1.

By hinging the upper ends of the arms E2 and E3 of the cutterframe to the main frame at points between the drive-wheels, I am enabled to combine the rocking mechanism G G G2 II with the cutter-frame at lunch greater advantages and construct the machine much more compactly than if said arms E2 and E2 were attached outside the driving-wheels, in which latter case supplemental devices would be necessary to support the rocking meehanism and connect it to the cutter-frame.

Moreover, by supporting the main frame in substantially the manner shown upon two driving-wheels and one or more supplen'iental carrying or caster wheels situated behind the driving-wheels, I am enabled to mount upon the main frame a rocking mechanism which can elevate or depress the cutter-frame without affecting the weight upon the horses, and at the same time diminish the distance between the cutters and the carrying-wheels, so that the devices for transmitting motion are arranged in an exceedingly simple form, whereas if the caster or carrying wheels be placed in front of the drivin g-wliieels far enough to support the frame the distance between the cutters and the driving-wheels must be increased, the transmitting devices lengthened, and the whole machine be made more cumbersome and complicated; and if the machine be constructed so that it is supported on the driving-wheels only, it will be seen that the weight ofthe cutter-frame would be thrown upon the horses when it is lifted from the ground.

Motion is imparted to the crank-shaft F and the cutter apparatus by the following devices: I I are shafts mounted independently of each other, but in substantially the same line upon the rear part of the main frame. Each of these shafts carries at its outerend aloosely-nioun ted spur-pinion meshing with the spur-wheels a a on the driving-wheels, (shown at 'i 13,) and at its inner' end a spur-wheel, (shown at i i2.) rlhe spur-wheels 1'. 2 engage, respectively, with the pinions F F2 on the crank-shaft F, which latter shaft is continuous from end to end of the main frame. Y

It will be readily understood that when the machine is in motion the wheels A A will be moved with varying and unequal speeds, and hence that in order to avoid binding or cramping of any parts it becomes necessary to transmit their separate motions to the crank-shaft through independent gearing.

I have shown and will now describe devices by means of which the motion of the faster wheel can be transmitted to the crank-shaft and the slower wheel shall be thrown out of engagement with said shaft.

The pinions F F2 are mounted loosely ou the crank-shaft, and have secured to them enlarged disks K K. These disks K K are furnished with ratcheted chambers, as shown in Fig. 3.

L L also represent disks which are secured to the shaft by set-screws, and have upontheir inner faces spring-pawls l, Figs. 4 and 5. rIhese pawls are arranged to engage with the ratcheted disks, so that when the pinion F is lnoved faster than the pinion F2 the disks K and L shall be engaged, and the motion of the pinion F will be imparted to the shaft; but when said pinion is moved slower than the other the disk L will be carried faster than the disk K, and the engagement between the pinion F and the shaft will be broken. 'lhus the speeds of the wheels may vary, or one of them may stop entirely, (asin turning the machin e,) without interfering with the movements of the cutting apparatus.

F3 represents the crank-wheel on the end of wheel F, and F1 is the pitman operating the sickle-bar by means of a bell-crank lever, M, pi voted to the shoe E.

The cutting apparatus is disengaged from the driving mechanisln by fork-levers NN, arranged to slide the pinions z' i out of engagelnent with shaft F, and to beoperated by sprin gs n2 u2 and links n n, pivoted in a crosshead, N', with which engages the hand-lever N2, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7.

The pinions fi t' are ratchet'ed on their inner faces, and when turned in one direction engage with the shafts I and I by means of pins a n', inserted in the shaft; but when moved in the opposite direction (as in backing the driving-wheels) the pinions turn loosely on the shafts.

In order to guide the machine or alter the direction of its path the operatorv can turn or guide the horses so as to propel it in the reV quired direction, or it maybe guided autom atically by devices sul'ista-ntiall y such as the following:

Referring to Figs. 2 and 6, O is a frictionbrake surrounding the shaft I', and situated within a chamber formed iu the spur-wheel ft2. The aperture through which the shaft passes is somewhat enlarged, so as to permit a longitudinal movement of the brake-piece O. I is a link pivoted to the brake-piece and provided with a lug or stud, 19, upon its inner face. If the link P be pulled rearward,the lug Vp will strike against the wall of the chamber in the wheel i2, and this will crowd the lower end, o, of the brake-piece O against the opposite part of the chamber-wall, and the resulting friction will tend to stop the motion of the wheel i2 and to lock the driving-wheel A on that side.

By means ofa connecting-link,p, and apedal, p2, pivoted to the tongue, the operator is enabled to stop the motion of the driving-wheel and to turn the machine around on said wheel as a center. rlhe opposite spur-wheel, fi', is provided with a similar brake, and by its means IOO IIO

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sufficiently far to leave a clear track for the driving and caster wheels and for the horses.

From an examination of the drawings it will be seen that l attain all the advantages incident to machines to which the draft is applied behind the drivingwheels, and' at the same time provide a perfectly clear space between the driving-wheels and between the horses, wherein the grain can be safely delivered.

In this patent I do not claim the brake devices, whereby I am enabled to guide or steer 'the machine, as I propose to embody that subject-matterin adivision of this case.

Vhat I claim is 1. In a harvester, the combination of a'shaft mounted on a line substantially parallel with the axis ofthe driving-wheels, a crank rigidly attached to and revolving around the axis of said shaft, a cutter-frame supported upon said shaft, a pitman pivoted to said crank, and a cutter-bar reciprocated by said pitman, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a carrying and driving wheel, a crank-shaft which operates the cutters, a shaft which rotates the crank-shaft and is rotated by the carrying and driving wheel, a finger-bar frame supported upon the crank-shaft, and mechanism which raises and lowers the cutter-bar on lines concentric with the crank-shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with the cutter-bar and tin ger-beam, a pitman for operating the cutters, and a supporting-bar for the cutting-frame rigidlysecnred to the nger-beam and loosely supported upon the rotating-shaft to which the pitman is pivoted, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the main frame upon which the drivin g-gear is mounted, the cutterframe pivoted to the main frame in rear of the axis of the driving-whee1s at two or more points substantially equidistant from the tinger-bar, the rocking lever pivoted upon the main frame, and a connecting bar or yoke rigidly secured to the rocking-lever and loosely connected to the cutter-frame at both ends, substantially as set forth.

5. rlhe combination of a main frame supported at the frontupon the drivin g-wheels and at its rear upon carrying-wheels, a lcutter-frame pivoted to the main frame behind the axis of the driving-wheels, and a rocking mechanism supported upon the main frame for raising and lowering the cutter-frame, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a main frame upon which the driving-gear is mounted, carrying and driving wheels arranged to support the front part of the main frame, carrying-Wheels arranged in rear of said carrying and driving wheels to support the rear portion of the main frame, a cutting apparatus connected to said main frame by a pivotal connection whereby it can be rocked relative to the main frame, and a rocking mechanism pivoted to the main frame in rear of the axis of the carrying and driving wheels, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of two independentlymounted carrying and driving wheels, two independently-mounted pinions rotated by the drivin g-whcels, respectively, and a crank-shaft which is rotated by said pinions independently of each other, substantially as set forth.

S. In a harvester, the combination of a shaft, mechanism which rotates said shaft and which is operated by the driving-wheel, a crank attached to and revolving with said shaft, a reciprocating cutter-bar, a pitman pivoted to said crank and to said cutter-bar, and two pinions which are mounted upon said shaft and which engage therewith simultaneously or sep. arately, substantially as set forth.

9. In a harvester, the combination of a shaft, mechanism which rotates said shaft and which is operated by the driving-wheel, a crank at-A tached to and revolving with said shaft, a reciprocatin g cutter-bar connected to and reciprocated by said crank, and two pinions which are mounted upon said shaft, and of which when revolving with different speeds the faster engages with the shaft, substantially as set forth.

l0. In a harvester, in combination with two independently-mounted carrying and driving wheels and a crank-shaft, two independent driving-shafts which are rotated separately by the carrying and driving wheels separately, and which both rotate the crank-shaft, substantially as set forth.

1.1. In combination with the carrying and driving wheel of a harvester, and an intermediate wheel arranged between said carrying and driving wheel and the cutting apparatus, and which is rotated by said carrying and driving wheel, a locking mechanism which is supported upon the main frame, and which retards or stops the rotation of said intermediate wheel by friction independently of the draft, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination, with the carrying and driving wheels and the crank-shaft which operates the cutters, of the shafts I and I', each driven by a single carrying and driving wheel, and mechanism adapted, substantially as set forth, to stop or retard the motion of said shafts I and I.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTOPHER W.' LEVALLEY.

Witnesses:

LEsLIE PARLIN, JOHN E. MILLER.

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